


Akwashi! (The Prettiest Setter)

by twiglet



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, CAPTAIN SQUAD, Drunk Akaashi Keiji, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Haikyuu Timeskip, Insecure Akaashi Keiji, M/M, MBSY Jackals, Marriage Proposal, Mom Squad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:41:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27099805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twiglet/pseuds/twiglet
Summary: "Akwashi! Your sets are the best!" Bokuto cheers. Akaashi smiles fondly at his former upperclassmen and current boyfriend. He knew this wasn't the case. There were so many more setters better than him... This is a story where his owlish loving boyfriend tries to prove to his insecure boyfriend of eight years that he isn't just the prettiest setter, he is the best setter.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 135





	Akwashi! (The Prettiest Setter)

**Author's Note:**

> Warning! Contains Haikyu! Timeskip spoilers!
> 
> Credits to @mochebun on wattpad for being my trustworthy editor. Thanks very much!
> 
> (cross posted to wattpad)

Akaashi rummages around in the dark of his closet, squinting left and right.

"Where the hell is it?" he mutters. He fiddles with the silver promise ring around his finger as he searches in the dark for the damned pair of kneepads that always seemed to disappear around this time of year.

The dim light of the bedroom shines through the door, illuminating the small crowded area filled with old possesions and junk from past years.

He and his boyfriend had talked about getting this area cleaned out so they could store volleyball stuff in there, but in the end, they just weren't bothered.

"Come on" Akaashi mutters as he throws old rubber ducks, school textbooks, and manuscripts from previous years. "The hell did I put those things-"

"Did I give them to Shouyou?" he stops for a second at the thought. He rubs his chin, deep in thought as he tries to think where he put the missing kneepads. Of course, you may just be thinking, but hey? Aren't they just kneepads?

Sure, any other person would think that.

But these were Bokuto's kneepads. When he graduated this was their parting gift as his star moved and became a national player while he was stuck in high school, stressing over exams and potential colleges he could get into.

"Akwagashi! Aren't you excited for later?" Bokuto pipes up.

Akaashi jumps at being jolted from his drifting change of thought. When he saw it was just his boyfriend he exhaled with relief. He looks up from his side of the room where he was searching for his kneepads and smiles softly. "Of course Bokuto-san" he answers.

"Akwash~! Act a little more excited at least~" Bokuto whines as he walks over and drapes his body over his boyfriends. Akaashi rolls his eyes at this. "I am excited Bokuto-san, but I am also very tired" he yawns to exaggerate the fact that he was exhausted. Working with mangaka was harder than he expected it would be.

"Of course you're tired Akaashi, you work very hard" Bokuto nuzzles his boyfriends face with his own before pecking his face with light kisses. Akaashi giggles and nuzzles his boyfriends face in return before relaxing his body.

"Why don't you go on ahead Kou? I'll be there in a minute"

"Nahhh, I'll wait for you" Bokuto kisses his boyfriend one last time. "Koutaro, I insist-" Akaashi get cut off by Bokuto putting his finger to Akaashi's lips. "Nu-uh. Now let me help you out" he tells his boyfriend firmly. Akaashi nods, slightly surprised by his boyfriend's firm attitude and gives in.

"So!" Bokuto picks up a rubber duck and starts throwing it up and down, catching it in his left hand. "Whatcha looking for?"

Akaashi sighs heavily. "The kneepads" he groans. "They've disappeared"

Bokuto rubs his boyfriends back reassuringly. "I'm sure they're somewhere around here" he peers into the closet. Akaashi hums and leans onto his boyfriend.

Bokuto glances back at him concerned. "You know, if you're too tired we can take the night off. I know how hard you've been working lately, so we could just curl up and watch a movie if you like" he offers.

Akaashi hums and shakes his head. "It's our usual session with our friends, it would be rude to bail"

Once a month this session came around where everyone (and I mean everyone) comes around to play some volleyball. There was one time where everyone played beach volleyball when the weather was nice, but that's a story for another time.

"Alright" Bokuto doesn't object. Akaashi deep down knew that Bokuto wouldn't want to miss this for the world. The only time he would drop everything was if his boyfriend said the word.

"Is this it?" Bokuto suddenly lunges forwards to grab the supposed kneepads as his boyfriend falls back with a small thud. "Hey hey hey! I found them!" his boyfriend was oblivious to his boyfriend on the floor as he pulled them out of the closet.

Akaashi peers over his boyfriend's shoulder and smiles as Bokuto hand them over to him. "Thanks, Kou" he leans forwards so he can peck his boyfriend's cheeks. Bokuto smiles his rare soft smile and leans back onto Akaashi.

"Kouuu" Akaashi pokes his cheeks. "5 more minutes" Bokuto whines as he rolls over onto his stomach, crushing his boyfriend underneath. "I have to get dressed" he tried to emphasize the fact that he was still wearing the crumpled dress shirt he wore to work earlier and a pair of worn-in volleyball shorts from high school.

"Fine-" Bokuto grumbles and rolls off of his boyfriend and onto the ground.

"I need you to get out for a second while I get changed," Akaashi tells him as he rolls over to face Bokuto. "Why can't I stay? I've seen you naked be-" Bokuto doesn't have a chance to finish his sentence before his boyfriend drags him towards the door and throws him out, slamming the door from behind.

"Akaashiii!" Bokuto laughs as he knocks on the door. "I was only kidding!"

Akaashi lets slip a smile at Bokuto's antics. After a while of banging on the door, Bokuto calls out to Akaashi, telling him that he'll get their bottles ready and walks downstairs.

Akaashi listens to the footsteps slowly quieten, and wait for when they disappear altogether.

The second they're gone he collapses onto the bed. His eyes burn from staring at the computer screen all day, and his body feels fatigued from all the deadlines and stress. His job had taken a physical toll on his body, and not a good one.

Tears prick at his eyes from all the emotional stress lately as he rubs furiously to try to get rid of them.

"Stop this" he mutters to himself. "Let's just try to have fun today, okay?" he tries to reassure himself, trying to let go of all the emotional stress weighing on his shoulders.

"Hey, Kaashi!-" Bokuto knocks on the door. Akaashi jumps off the bed at the sound and crashes onto the floor. "Are you okay?" Bokuto calls, sounding slightly concerned. He decides against bursting through the door to give his boyfriend privacy.

"Yeah!" Akaashi tries to keep the groan out of his voice. "Okay! Are you ready to leave?" Bokuto calls. Akaashi scrambles to his feet and starts to frantically unbutton his dress shirt. "Gimme a sec!" Akaashi calls in a strangled voice as he whizzes around the room.

"Hey Kaashi, if you want I can help you get changed" Akaashi can almost see his cocky smirk as he says this, so he doesn't dignify this with a response.

He can hear a muffled chuckle from the other side of the door as he rushes around, stumbling back when he attempts to get his shirt off of his body. His glasses fall to the ground as he pulls it over his head.

"Shit!" he curses. "No cursing Kaashi! It's not good!" Bokuto calls. (He had a strict rule about cursing even though he had colorful language himself when he chose to)

Akaashi bends down and scrambles to find his glasses although he was still half-blind. He hears the door click open and his boyfriend walks in carefully. He sighs with relief seeing that it was just him fumbling for his glasses and that he didn't hurt himself. Bokuto cautiously walks over and picks up his boyfriend's glasses.

Akaashi stops moving and stays still as Bokuto rests the glasses back on his face softly. Everything slowly goes back into focus and he sends his boyfriend an appreciative smile.

"Thank you" he whispers. Bokuto smiles as he caresses his cheeks. The unspoken "I don't deserve you" was thick in Akashi's throat, but he doesn't say anything.

"Let me get your contacts for you" Bokuto offers. He gives a hand to the smaller male and gently pulls him up, before walking towards the bedside table and picking up the box of contact lenses.

Akaashi rips the box open impatiently and proceeds to put them in his stinging eyes. He winces. "I should've put in eyedrops first" he mutters.

"You ready to go?" Bokuto takes his boyfriend's hands.

Akaashi looks up at him softly. "Of course Koutarou-kun"

"Keijiii! You're too much sometimes!"

"We have to go Bokuto-san or else we're gonna be late"

"Alright, alright Kaashi-kun. Let's go!"

║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║

"Sorry, we're late!" Akaashi throws the sliding doors open as the two of them run through the doors panting breathlessly.

"Hey hey, the parties finally here!" Kuroo laughs as he runs over to smack Bokuto on the back.

"Akaashi!" Hinata sprints over in a second and is by Akaashi's side. "You look so pretty today!" he laughs at the surprised expression on Akaashi's face. He could never get used to compliments from the small sunshine no matter how many times he was given one.

"Thank you Shouyou-kun" Akaashi smiles softly. Hinata gives him a quick respectful bow before turning to his teammate. "Bokuto-san!" he greets. Bokuto grins and puts Hinata in a headlock.

"Hey hey, hows my favorite student!" he laughs. "Bokuto-san, please stop choking my boyfriend" Kageyama walks over with slight amusement lacing his voice. "Hey Kageyama-kun" Bokuto stared at him, his smile frozen in place. "Bokuto-san, play nice" Akaashi sighed.

"Akaashiii! Don't go back on the honorifics!" Bokuto whined.

"Bokuto-san" Akaashi warned his boyfriend. Bokuto sighed and let his student out from the headlock. "Fineeee" he whined.

"Bokuto-san" Akaashi warns. Bokuto glares at the ground kicking his feet before obliging.

"It's nice to see you Tobio-kun" he grumbles. Kageyama smiles as he grabs his fiancee's arm and hugs him tight while smirking triumphantly at Bokuto. Bokuto Koutaro had a soft spot for his student, and with that soft spot came an overprotectiveness that no one expected. Everyone says that he's like the second father Hinata never had. So ever since Kageyama got extra cozy with his student he was on his case 24/7 whenever he saw that setter.

Kuroo chuckled, "Wow, you must be simping hard for Akaashi"

Bokuto hit Kuroo.

Everyone seemed in good cheer, so they continued to laugh and banter while they stretched. Soon after the famous Kodzuken and Lev sprinted through the door and threw himself over the benches to hide from the fans that were chasing him to the doors after his live stream, and then the famous volleyballer Yaku Morisuke (soon to be Lev Morisuke) joined them as they hid.

"Hey hey, who wants to get started!" Bokuto yells. "Hell yeah!" Nishinoya cheers. "I won't lose to you Morisuke-kun!" he storms onto the court as he throws off his shirt. "Yeah yeah short stack, bring it on!" Yaku smacks him on the back and follows him onto the court.

"Yuu put your shirt back on, this is a PG-rated game!" Suga shrieks. He, Daichi, Asahi, and a few others were resting on the benches above (the other two were trying not to laugh as Suga tried to keep everyone in line). They had rented out one of their old school halls to play on like old times, so there was loads of space to go wild.

Nishinoya pretends not to hear as he skips along with the court. "Nishinoya-san, I like your shorts!" Hinata comes rushing over. Nishinoya laughs at the compliments. "Thanks! Asahi made them. If you want I can show you where you can grab a pair-"

"Hell yeah! There's another top I've been wanted to try, its like a vintage onigiri tank top he made ages ago-" the two keep chattering on the court about their fashion tastes as their boyfriends roll their eyes at their attitude.

"The prettiest setter has come!" Oikawa suddenly slams through the door. "Oikawa-senpai!" Hinata cheers. "Shouyou!" Oikawa laughs as he hugs him in greeting.

"Oikawa-san" Kageyama greets the setter with a curt nod as he walks over. "Tobio-kun" Oikawa grits his teeth slightly as he says this. "Play nice" Iwazumi Hajime (27, Athletic Trainer), follows behind him, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his new black hoodie (courtesy of Asahi also)

"Fine" Oikawa grumbles. Iwazumi rolls his eyes as he throws his bad down on the nearby benches.

"Perfect timing guys! Go stretch up in the corner while we start and when you're done we'll sub you in" Yaku calls.

"Thanks! We'll do the score count while we're at it, we've already warmed up a bit!" Iwazumi calls.

"Alright, we can start now!" Hinata bounces on the court and slides into position.

"Daichi, what are the positions today?" Akaashi calls. Daichi rubs his chin as he thinks. " "Hinata, you're the middle blocker with Tsukishima for today" Daichi calls.

"Nice, nice!" Hinata laughs. "Tsukki, let's do our best!" he calls to the blonde stepping onto the court. Tsukishima only rolls his eyes in response before finally responding.

"Don't suck" he drawls.

"Aww, Tsukki!" Hinata laughs. Tsukishima only grumbles in response as he rolls his shoulders. "Yamaguchi, you can be our pinch server for this game because you keep insisting on playing" Daichi sighs, hoping that he wouldn't hear him.

"Thanks, Daichi-san!" Yamaguchi bounces on the balls of his feet and jumps onto the court.

"Ahh, its been a while since I played" Yamaguchi laughs. "Don't worry Tadashi-kun, I'm sure you're gonna be great" Nishinoya tries to encourage his teammate.

"Thanks, Nishinoya-san" Yamaguchi laughs awkwardly. "No need for the honorifics, we're friends remember?"

"Haha, yeah, you're right!"

"Just be careful Tadashi, don't overexert yourself"

"Right, I'll try Tsukki!"

"Alright, enough dawdling, let's get to the matches!" Tanaka yells from where Daichi and the others are sitting. "I can't play today so entertain me!"

"Ryu, please be careful" Ennoshita sweatdrops as he pulls his boyfriend back into the chair.

"Please, just because I have a broken leg doesn't mean I can't cheer my friends on!" Tanaka loudly protests. "I'm sorry, but who's the doctor here?" Ennoshita smiles eerily. "Y-you?" Tanaka stutters. "And whos the idiot who jumped off the ladder thinking the inflatable ball pile will save his ass?"

"..."

"Exactly. Now sit down" Ennoshita pushes him back into the chair as his husband sulks. "I love you" he kisses the others cheek while he grumbles something incoherent in response.

"Okay! The first team-up is Bokuto, Nishinoya, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Kuroo" Daichi calls out. Bokuto and Kuroo whoop and rush towards each other to high five.

Daichi rolls his eyes and continues. "Kenma, Lev, Yaku, Ushijima, Tendou and Oikawa, if he's ready the second team"

"Daichi! How could you do this to me!" Oikawa screeches. "Oikawa, we're 28-year-old men, please leave your grudge behind for at least 60 minutes and get along with Ushijima" he warns.

"Never!" Oikawa crosses his arms childishly. "Okay," Daichi rolls his eyes. "Iwazumi, you're up"

"Cheers," Iwazumi says dryly, proceeding to step onto the court. "Wait, wait!" Oikawa pushes forwards, past his husband, and stumbles onto the court. "I'll do it" he grumbles.

"Nice choice. Now let's get on with this!" Daichi yells.

"Osu!" they all cheer as they step onto either side of the court. Oikawa walks over to Ushijima and puts his hand out begrudgingly just like every other time they do this.

"Just because I have to set to you doesn't me I like you," he tells the stoic spiker as he quickly shakes his hand. Ushijima only looks at him with slight amusement before stepping onto the court, answering him.

"You should have joined the Japan team"

Oikawa rolls his sleeves up, with a smile that said "do not disturb, currently plotting murder"

They all step onto the court and Iwazumi steps onto the high chair to make sure everyone plays fair.

"Hey Akaashi" he calls. "Could you throw me that whistle?" he asks. Akaashi doesn't hear him, his eyes were glazed over as he stared off into the distance.

"Heyoo! Akaashi, could you pass me the whistle?" Iwazumi waves his hands to try to catch the other's attention. Akaashi jumps slightly, startled.

"Sorry" he apologies quickly as he bows his head, turning around to grab the bright yellow whistle hanging on the score count.

"Thanks" Iwazumi puts his hand out as Akaashi throws it to him, catching it with ease.

He blows the whistle and makes himself comfortable in his chair as Hinata goes to fetch a ball.

"Let's start!" Tanaka yells. "Yahoo!" Taketora cheers beside him with his broken arm (he was the one who broke Tanaka's fall) as he was under Fukunga's watchful eyes, who only came to see if he could get any comedic content out of the matches that were going on.

The game starts with a nice serve from Oikawa. Since this was a game with only half the people as pros, he didn't make it super powerful. It flies over the net towards Nishinoya who flashily rolls to the side to receive it.

"Still as showy as ever shorty-kun!" Oikawa laughs. "You won't be laughing when I receive every one of your serves perfectly!" Nishinoya laughs. The serve rockets off of his arms and flies into the air.

"Nice recieve!" Hinata calls out. Kageyama rushes forwards and puts his hands into the air to set. There are two spikers already running up, Kuroo and Tsukishima. Kageyama quickly analyzes their movements, his eyes being slightly burned from the bright lights above. He quickly sends it to Kuroo who slams it down, only to be received by the other team swiftly.

The satisfying sounds of the ball flying to the ground and the sneakers squeaking and screeching assaulted Akaashi's ears. His eyes burned from the contacts and the crying from earlier, and he felt like he could pass out any second now.

Bokuto jumps up to spike the ball, his eyes completely focused. This was the place where he shined most, he was the protagonist on the court.

"Akaashii-" a voice whispers in his head. "Bokuto would be better off without me," he thinks guilty.

"Akaashiii" it repeats, the sounds rebounding off his skull only louder this time.

"I'm only dragging him down, I don't-"

"Akaashi!" a sudden shout jolts him back to reality. He jolts slightly to find a concerned Eita beside him. "You okay?" he asks. "Y-yeah, I'm fine" Akaashi's voice breaks in the middle of him speaking much to his annoyance.

"Okay?" Eita answers, sounding unconvinced by his words. "I think we are about to sub on, so be at the ready," he tells him, raising his voice so he could be heard over the other player's enthusiastic yells. "Ah, right" Akaashi nods. "So loud," he thinks to himself.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Eita cocks his head slightly. Akaashi was looking worse for wear, his hair slightly unkempt, his eyes looking similar to that of a panda courtesy of the dark bags underneath them. He was going to keep pushing it until a sudden yelp rings through the air.

"Tadashi!" Kei sprints over to his husband lying on the floor, clutching his knee in pain. "Jesussss" Tadashi hisses through gritted teeth.

"Are you okay!" Kei drops down beside his husband. Iwazumi jumps off of his chair and rushes over. "Ennoshita, can you get down here!" Hinata calls. Ennoshita was already rushing past everyone above, jumping across the chairs to make it to the stairs.

"Tadashi, are you okay?" Kei grabs his hand, gripping it tightly. Yamaguchi leans forwards, propping himself up. "Yeah, I'm okay" he tries to convince the worried blonde beside him.

"Doesn't look like it to me" Ennoshita jogs onto the court and drops on the other side of Yamaguchi. "Do you think you can stand?" he asks. Yamaguchi hesitates before nodding.

"Tsukishima, give me a hand" Ennoshita motions to him. Kei nods and slings one of Tadashi's arms over his shoulder. "Ow ow ow" Yamaguchi mutters as they attempt to lift him. Iwazumi sighs and motions to Chikara and Kei to put Yamaguchi back down.

"Guys, you can carry on. Tsukishima just give us some space for a second while I and Iwazumi examine him" Ennoshita orders him. Tsukishima just blankly stares at him, not budging a centimeter.

"Tsukki~" Yamaguchi whines. "Please just go have fun"

Tsukishima glares at him in response, not moving from his spot. "Hey" Iwazumi walks up towards him. Tsukishima towered above him, his expression was unchanging.

"Look, I know you're worried" Iwazumi sighs. "But please give us some space while we try to see what's wrong with him" he pleads. Tsukishima scoffs and shakes his head.

"Tsukishima" Yamaguchi's tone of voice had changed. "Ooo, he has the captain's voice on!" Hinata whistles before being cut off by Kageyama smacking the back of his head.

"I ask of you to please leave me be for two seconds to let the professionals examine me before I kick you back on the court" he warns.

"Can't exactly kick me if your legs hurt" Kei mutters. Yamaguchi stares at him blankly for a second as a soft but eerie smile crept onto his face. "Eh? Do you want me to repeat myself?" Yamaguchi laughs. Tsukishima freezes on the spot. "N-no" he stutters.

"Good, good!" he laughs. "Play on guys!" Yamaguchi smiles happily and then turns towards the "pro's" as he calls them and starts talking.

"It seems like you have a bit of swelling on your ankle" Ennoshita hums. "Did you twist it during the match?"

Yamaguchi thinks back, trying to remember what happened. "Yeah, probably" he nods hesitantly. Ennoshita sighs. "I told you to take it easy after you hurt your ankle" he sighs. Iwazumi pipes up, "I'll go get some ice, I brought some in my bag" he offers. Ennoshita waves him off, and Iwazumi runs over towards where the piles of bags are packed up.

"Akaashi!" Ennoshita calls. Akaashi raises his head and walks over. "Can you bring him to the benches? I need to grab something for his ankle" he informs.

"Hai" Akaashi nods as Ennoshita runs off in Iwazumi's direction. He crouches beside Yamaguchi and slings his arm around his shoulder, walking towards the benches.

Yamaguchi whispers his thanks, but they both stay in silence until they get off of the court, and the sounds of the sneakers and bangs of the ball fill the room again.

"Ano-" Yamaguchi trails off as he starts to speak.

"You shouldn't expect me not to see how weird you were acting, Akaashi-san" Yamaguchi mutters under his breath so only Akaashi could hear. Akaashi freezes but continues walking, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be in pain?" he asks skeptically, trying to avoid the subject.

"Oh I am, I'm in a lot of pain right now" Yamaguchi laughs as if Akaashi told him a good joke. "But you seem to be hurting a lot more than me right now," he says that last part under his breath.

Akaashi doesn't say anything and keeps supporting Yamaguchi until they get to the benches.

"Hey, Akaashi!" Semi calls. "Subs are being called, come on!" he yells.

"Coming!" Akaashi calls back, turning towards the other setter.

"Alright, timeout!" Semi calls. The squeaking and loud bangs halt suddenly. "Oikawa you can sub off now" Semi calls. "Arigato!" Oikawa grumbles, not looking satisfied with his court time.

"Yo, Lanky"

"Its Lev"

"Lanky" Semi settles for. "You're off"

Lev grumbles and is pushed off the court by his husband as Semi steps onto the court proudly.

"Tsukishima, we'll sub you off too" he nods at the restless blonde. The second he finishes speaking Kei sprints off the court, saying his apologies and thanks before rushing towards his husband.

"Go get your man Tsukki!" Bokuto and Kuroo squeal at the same time, sounding like really high pitched anime girls as Tsukishima sprints over to Yamaguchi. He flips them off and they both burst into laughter and high five each other.

"Oikawa! Off!" Semi calls. "Fine" he huffs and storms towards Akaashi. "Good luck" he sighs when he reaches the former setter, putting his hand up for a high five.

"Thanks" Akaashi nods respectfully and high-fives him as he steps onto the court. Oikawa side glances at Akaashi as he steps off. "Hey, lanky" he jogs up to the tall model.

"Its Lev-" the giant whines. Oikawa rolls his eyes. "Do you notice anything different about Mr Pretty?"

"Who?"

"Akaashi-kun" Oikawa sighs, exasperated. "Ohh! Yeah, him" Lev rubs his chin thoughtfully. "What about him?"

Oikawa groans and smacks his head. "He's acting, like, strange I guess?" he sighs. "Just less lively? If that's even the right word?" he glances back at Akaashi as he says this.

Lev nods as the setter says this. "I don't know, Akaashi usually seems pretty quiet" he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Oikawa sighs heavily again, his good mood being slightly dampened by what was on his mind.

"Why are you asking?" Lev makes his way towards his bag and takes out a large bottle. Oikawa snaps his head up. "If Lev hasn't noticed and the others aren't questioning it, he must be hiding something," he thinks to himself.

"No reason!" he laughs. "Heyo, wasn't your photoshoot the other day?" Oikawa quickly laughs as he attempts to change the subject.

Lev nods enthusiastically. "Yeah! Mori-kun looked so pretty too!" his eyes lit up with excitement when he mentioned his fiancee's name.

The two drift off into a meaningless chat about fashion and "how fabulous Oikawa would look in a crown", just like the brown-haired one planned.

On the court Akaashi was staring off into the distance, sighing with relief under his breath as Oikawa quickly switches the topic and they walk off.

"So he got the memo," he thinks to himself. "Is it that noticeable? Should I try smile more?" he wilts at the thought. He couldn't let Bokuto see. He was already dragging the other one down enough as it is.

"Keijiiiii"

"Stop being so weak" his hands curl into fists to stomp the trembling. A hand touches his shoulder and he jumps back on instinct.

"Keiji?" Bokuto retracts his hand when Akaashi jumps back. He stares at Bokuto in surprise. The older man seemed to drop a bit (quite literally) as his reaction. Akaashi bows his head quickly and apologizes after seeing what he did.

"Sorry Bokuto-san, I was daydreaming" he laughs awkwardly. Bokuto seems to perk up a bit and smiles. "It's fine, don't worry Keiji" he straightens up and slings his arm around his boyfriend with a big shit-eating grin.

"Hey hey!" Kuroo jogs over with a just as bad grin on his face. "Looks like the prettiest setter is back on the court" he waggles his eyebrows as he says this. Akaashi rolls his eyes and replies with a quick curt "Nice to see you too rooster head"

"Kenma!" Kuroo shrieks. "Akaashi's being mean to me!" he whines. The fake blonde blinks twice before smirking. "You deserve it" Kenma shuts him down immediately as he walks towards the next position on the court.

"Kenma! You'd think you would be nicer after having a live stream with your fans"

"I'm never nice and you know it"

"I won't bake apple pie for you later if you don't defend me" Kuroo deadpans. Kenma freezes and turns on his heels. The Blackett looks at him expectantly as the blonde turns around and intakes a deep breath. "Akaashi-kun, so mean!" he pouts, imitating Oikawa's whiney voice. Akaashi tries to keep a deadpan face but fails, trying to stop giggling by covering his mouth with his hand.

"Thank you Kenma!" Kuroo puffs his chest out in pride. Kenma rolls his eyes as his deadpan expression returns. "You owe me pie" was all he said in response and then stalked to the other side of the court.

"Kenmaaa!" Kuroo whines.

"Alright, that's enough" Daichi steps onto the court with a grin, whistle in his mouth. "Daichi-kun!" all the Karasuno alumni cheer as he steps onto the court. He grins and blows the whistle once, then twice.

"I'll be watching this game while Iwazumi's gone, so play fair" he walks towards the chair. "Wouldn't play it any other way" Kuroo winks.

"Kuroo, please refrain from trying to earn brownie points with me"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean-"

"Anyways!" Daichi cuts him off and throws a ball over to Akaashi. "Akaashi, your serve" he nods. He catches it awkwardly, not at all like his highschool self.

"Everyone into position!" Daichi calls. Akaashi gulps as he steps behind the line at the end of the court. Everyone's eyes were on him as he stepped behind the line. He could feel his breathing becoming erratic, his head and vision becoming clouded.

"Start!" Daichi blows the whistle once and then blows it again to show Akaashi could serve now. Akaashi intakes a deep, shuddering breath, feeling his teeth chattering against each other with nerves as he does so.

"How do I do this again? I'll just screw this up, after all, I'm unfit to be in this world," enters his head. In a moment of nervousness, he throws it up into the air and hits the ball. "Crap" he mutters under his breath. So much for being the calm and collected setter.

The ball flies slowly towards the net, its speed starting to slow down as it falls. At this point, it looks like it won't make it past the net. With some luck, it hit the top of the net, before falling onto the other side of the court below. The moment of panic subsided, after all, Akaashi had hoped to get it past the net with some luck. Now to tackle the next obstacle:

To try winning a point against the other team.

"I got it!" Yaku yells as he dives for the ball. He throws his wrist out to save it, succeeding as it goes towards Semi, his hands already in position.

Tendou runs up with an excited grin on his face and jumps into the air. The ball lands in Semi's hands and goes to Tendou. "Its short, sorry!" Semi calls. Tendou takes no mind and spikes the ball. He seemed to have improved slightly since the last time they played, as his aim was slightly better.

"Akaashi!" Hinata calls. "Got it!" the older male runs over and receives it sloppily. "Gomenasai!" he apologizes as the ball spins and flies towards the net. Kageyama is over in a second, as expected of the nation's genius setter, and bends down to Hinata's level and sets it.

The world seems to go in slow motion as Kageyama sets the ball. Three spikers were running up, one was already midair, and two were about to jump up for it. He sets the ball, a perfect set, and it goes straight to Bokuto.

"Hey hey hey!" the spiker cheers as he jumps. His arm whips back, and the focused look on his face that never showed up anywhere else apart from the court shone through. The ball spins in midair and then is slammed down by the nation's one and only star shooter. The ball rockets off his hands and past the blockers before heading straight for Kenma.

It flies towards him and he runs forwards to receive it, only for it to bounce off of his arms and out of bounds while he flies back. "Ow," Kenma freezes where he's fallen to, his arms turning slightly red from the spike.

"Dude, you aren't playing among pro's!" Kuroo yelped. Bokuto started at the two as if the thought hadn't occurred to him yet, but then laughs.

"Hey hey! It was still a good spike though!"

"Good enough to take Kenma's head off"

"Shut up!"

The two of them start to bicker while Akaashi watches, frozen in place. He's grown rusty over the years and he knows it, but somehow the twisted feeling of guilt in his gut had only grown worse over time. The professionals on his team could set better than anyone else, actually, any other setter was better for Bokuto. The professional player was the star of the show, and at best Akaashi was a background character or part of the stage crew.

"Akaashi-kun!" Bokuto cheers as he bounds over.

You don't deserve him.

"Did ya see my spike!"

You should just leave.

"Sugoiii! It was so cool, I was like wham!"

He's better off without you. He's just staying because he's guilty.

"You played well Bokuto-san" he forces a smile to encourage his boyfriend.

"Hey hey! The set wasn't good at all though" he rubs his chin. Kageyama grits his teeth but smiles through his annoyance.

"What can I do to make it better?" he says through gritted teeth, his smile getting more strained by the minute. Bokuto rubs his chin, deep in thought.

"Set like Akaashi!" he grins. Kageyama stops in his tracks. "How?"

"I dunno"

"Then how do you want me to set like Akaashi?"

"I dunno!" Bokuto stomps his feet. "When Akaashi sets to me it feels like my hearts gonna explode, and he's so smart that it makes me feel super sure of my spikes!" his eyes light up as he speaks.

"I can't do that" Kageyama drawls. "That's just you complaining about me setting to you cause you don't like me"

"Tobio, play nice" Hinata warns. Kageyama rolls his eyes but complies. "Simple solution!" Bokuto pipes up. He walks over to Akaashi and picks him up and puts him over his head. "Bokuto-san" Akaashi warns, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

Bokuto laughs, taking no mind as he walks over and pushes past Kageyama into the setter position. He places down his boyfriend and puffs his chest out in pride. "Akaashi will be the setter!" he cheers.

Kageyama froze in place. "What," he says. Hinata laughs awkwardly and jumps up to grab Kageyama's ear. "Haha, great idea Bokuto-senpai!" he laughs.

"Shoyo dumbass let me go!" Kageyama yelps.

"Don't you agree Tobio-kun?" Hinata had a scary smile on his face as he said this. Kageyama stopped moving and thought about his next move.

He had two options.

Either object and get no cuddles for a week.

Or agree and have a smug Bokuto over his shoulder whenever they meet.

He chooses the latter.

Kageyama mumbles something incoherent in response as Hinata drags him away, leaving Akaashi standing in the setter position, unsure of what to do.

"Kageyama-kun, since you're now a blocker it's your turn to serve" Daichi calls from where he's sitting. He seems to perk up hearing this and runs over to the serving spot.

"Arigato!" he thanks.

Daichi blows the whistle and the game starts up again. "Bring us a service ace Kageyama!" Tanaka and Suga yell from above. He glares at them for a second, trying to regain his focus on the ball. Its thrown into the air, and he does a little jump before hitting it over the net.

It flies over nice and cleanly. As expected of the nation's greatest setter.

You're so weak Akaashi.

The ball is quickly received by Yaku before being sent to Semi.

It's pointless trying to compete with pros.

Semi's hands are already in place as the ball flies forwards, quickly sending it to Ushijima.

You're so stupid. Just give up already.

The ball is slammed down by him and sent straight to Kageyama. He does a solid recieve as Akaashi runs over.

You better not screw this up. Don't drag him down more than you already are.

"Keiji-kun!" Bokuto calls.

Set it to him. Even if it's your last time setting to him, you can't screw this up.

"Bokuto-san!" Akaashi calls.

The honorifics, again? Pathetic

When he yells that name Bokuto glances over, worried about why Akaashi was going back to the honorifics. Did he do something wrong? Was he mad?...

His once bright, focused eyes were clouded over. The ball was heading his way, but his eyes were on Akaashi and Akaashi only. His boyfriend didn't look him in the eyes.

The set was sloppy, but to Bokuto it was one of the greatest in the world. After all, there was no other setter in his mind that could compare to his boyfriend. He tore his focus away from Akaashi for a second, his eyes shining like the golden colour they were as he saw the set coming his way. A chance like this only came once in a while.

He grinned, his eyes not focused on what was ahead of him before slamming it down onto the court. It brushes against Kuroo's fingertips, before flying onto the other side. The perfect spike but-

"Out!"

The wrong timing.

He lands down onto the ground, his eyes wide in surprise.

Nice going. That was all your fault.

Bokuto stares at Kuroo in surprise, then at the ball rolling off into the distance, and then at his hands. "Hey hey!" he laughs softly.

"Keiji!" he calls. Akaashi winces, expecting him to be mad, or yell at him for screwing up such a simple task. To his surprise, Bokuto comes jogging over and takes his small hands into his bigger ones. The bright smile on his face was blinding, but Akaashi couldn't bring himself to return it.

"You really are the best setter!" he laughs. Akaashi cocks his head slightly confused before pulling away from his hands. "We didn't get the point Bokuto-san"

"So?" Bokuto laughs. "Akwashi!" his voice suddenly elevated in volume, making the smaller male wince again.

"Your sets really are the best! Let's win a point, and then the set!" he laughs.

Akaashi smiles ever so slightly and nods. "And then the game?" he asks, a little bit of amusement leaking into his voice. Bokuto nods vigorously as he returns to his position onto the court.

"And then the game"

They lost the game 24 to 25.

║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║

"Keiji, I really think you've had enough to drink"

As per usual, the teams always go out for a drink after their games to enjoy a quick reunion before having to go back to normal life the next day.

Unlike the usual, Akaashi was drunk and an overemotional mess.

"Shut up Kozume" his voice was slightly slurred as he spoke. "I work hard, just let me live"

Suga frowns and grabs the bottle away from Akaashi. "You're drunk" he states. Akaashi just giggles in response. "No I'm not" he sings.

"Yes you are"

"No I'm not~"

"All of you shut up!" Semi bangs down his glass, tick marks appearing on his forehead. Keiji giggles and leans back in his chair, swaying back and forth. Hinata glances over at Akaashi worriedly. Kenma and some of the others had seen him in this state once or twice before, but for him, this was a first. The once calm and collected Akaashi Keiji was now a clingy, loud, bubbly mess.

"Suga-san, what do we do" Hinata hisses, his eyes wide as he says this. "Wait for him to sober up, or make him spill all of his secrets" he shrugs nonchalantly.

"Suga-san!"

"I was only kidding!" Suga laughs, despite the situation. Although he says he is joking, Hinata doesn't believe that. There was something fishy about Akaashi lately, so this was their chance to get the secretive man to talk.

"Pretty-kun" Oikawa puts his hand over the smaller males one. "Are you okay?" he asks. Oikawa's voice was laced thick with concern. Akaashi's head seemed in the clouds. He glances over at the table where all their boyfriends, husbands, and fiancees were.

Yaku suddenly slams his glass down and dives across the table to hold Akaashi's hand. "Who hurt you! I'll kill them!" he roars, gripping his friend's hand tightly. Bokuto, Lev, and the others glance over for a second at the sudden noise as Oikawa scrambled to shut Yaku's loud mouth.

"Yaku! Get off Akaashi you're drunk!" Kenma attempts dragging him off. Yaku's cheeks were tinted a rosy colour, similar to that of Akaashi's. "No I'm not!" Yaku protests. He was only slightly drunk, but Kenma and Suga knew if he let him drink anymore he would pass out.

So, Suga proceeds to take all the half-empty drinks off the table, and dump them on the bar counter.

"Sugaaa!" Akaashi whines. "I wasn't finished~"

"You were" Suga states simply before sitting back down. Akaashi whines in protest but doesn't say anything more.

"Keiji" Suga's voice had turned soft as he took the smaller males hand. Akaashi looked at him with wide eyes, his glasses crooked on his face and his clothes rumpled from messing around so much.

"You know you can talk to us, right?" he asks tentatively. Akaashi nods slowly as if he was trying to process this piece of information. Hinata intakes a deep breath before piping up.

"Akaashi-kun" he starts, his voice completely serious. "You mean a lot to me. I think of you and Bokuto as very close friends, or if I'm being honest, family" he intakes a sharp breath at the end of his little speech.

"So please, if there's something wrong-"

"Or if someone needs a beating!" Yaku rips Oikawa's hand off of his mouth to yell this before it being put straight back on.

Hinata rolls his eyes before continuing. "Or if someone hurt you, please tell us" he adds, albeit a bit hesitantly. Akaashi's eyes were wide and glazed over, snd suddenly big fat tears started to run down his face.

"It's not him its me!" he bawls, stuffing his face into Suga's shirt. The group's jaw drops as they scramble to comfort their usually quiet friend. "Akaashi-kun!"

"He's so nice!" Akaashi blubbers, the tears still running down his face fast. "But I suck! He works so hard and cares for me so much that it crushes me to think I'm dragging him down!" he wails the last bit. The group dives to cover up Akaashi with their bodies and laughs, pretending that they were going in for an awkward group hug, when really, they were just trying to cover Akaashi to not attract the boy's (or in other words Koutarou's) attention.

Once they had stopped looking over, they sit back in their seats, watching for any next moves.

"Akaashi" Suga says softly. He sniffs and then turns to face Suga. "Who is him?"

Akaashi sniffs again, more tears rolling down his face. "Bokuto-sannn!" he bawls. Suga rubs his back sympathetically, thinking of what he should say next.

"What did he do! I'll kill him!" Yaku yells but is cut off by Semi and Oikawa smacking the back of his head simultaneously. Suga sends a death glare his way before looking back at Akaashi.

"Have you tried talking to him about it?" he asks softly, rubbing slow, comforting circles on Akaashi's back. Akaashi sniffs, shaking his head. "He wouldn't get me" he mumbles, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the tears. Suga shakes his head as if he doesn't understand. Bokuto was always understanding. Even when Akaashi was at his breaking point he was always there, always offering support.

"Why wouldn't he-"

"Because he probably would ditch me if he found out" Akaashi muttered. The group was shocked into silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Akaashi glances over at the coke that Hinata was drinking and grabs it, taking a swig. Hinata mumbles an 'oi' in protest but doesn't make a move to take it back.

"The thought has occurred to me many times before" he mumbles. "But I always shut it down. Bokuto's confidence has always made me a bit more of an optimistic person I guess" he chuckles. "But the feeling of utter hopelessness started when one day he came from training" he starts to tremble, so Suga deepens his movements. Akaashi inhales deeply and continues. "He was exhausted. This wasn't one of his mood swings where he would complain and act like his normal self, he was utterly crushed" he spits out the last part bitterly like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"He was crushed from the suffocation of working so hard, in all mental and physical states and I hadn't noticed because I was working too hard. And when I did find out, I could do nothing but hug him and say that 'it was going to be alright' or 'i'm here now Koutarou"

Akaashi puts the glass back on the table and sighs heavily. "I know I'm being selfish doing this" he bows his head as he says this. "But I can't help it. If I leave him I could break him, and I would break myself, but if I stay I'll only drag him down more" tears roll out his eyes slower now as he spins the drink in slow, hypnotic movements.

Everyone's eyes are on him, unable to say anything.

"Oh" Akaashi's mouth was in an o shape. "And don't forget about the rings" he chuckles, before his eyes fluttered shut as he fiddled with the silver ring. "Don't forget about the rings" he mutters one last time before passing out.

Everyone stays silent, sure of what to do. Yamaguchi was the first to speak up.

"We should get Bokuto" he whispers. Suga, Oikawa and the others nod and make motions to stand up. Hinata gets up from his chair and pushes them back down. "I should get him," he says firmly. "I'm his teammate after all, and he'll understand what I mean if I tell him"

Before anyone else can respond, Hinata has pushed his chair in and was weaving through the crowded bar tables.

"Bokuto-sama!" Hinata calls. Bokuto turns around, two large almost empty beer bottles, laughing boisterously. "Hinata-kun! How lovely of you to join us!" he laughs. Once Hinata is in range he slings an arm over his shoulder, dragging him in.

"Hey" Kageyama smiles gently. He held a cranberry juice in his hand to avoid getting drunk, just in case his boyfriend decided now was a good time to pass out.

Hinata smiles back gently, leaning over to kiss him on his forehead. Bokuto grumbles something about 'too much PDA', which elicits a loud hyena laugh from Kuroo and a snarky response along the lines of 'you and akaashi aren't one to talk'.

"Bokuto-sama" Hinata wriggles to try to get out of his grip. "I think its time for you to go home," he says firmly as he pushes himself away from his teammate.

"This must be Kageyama talking!" Bokuto bangs down his fist. "See Hinata-kun! He's poisoning your mind!" he whines. Hinata rolls his eyes and puts his hand on Bokuto's shoulder.

"Bokuto-sama" his voice was a lot firmer now. Bokuto's face went more serious this time as he heard Hinata's tone of voice.

"I think you should definitely go now" he moves his head slowly in the direction of Akaashi's table. Bokuto glances over, his mouth turning into a slight 'o'.

"Ah. I see now" he nods slowly. "I have to get going now guys" he puts down 1400 yen on the table and stands up. "Aw man, but the party's only just getting started!" Kuroo whines. Bokuto lets out a small smile and shrugs. "Maybe next time. Hinata can take my place this time round!" he laughs.

"Thanks!" Hinata smiles.

"See you around guys!"

~~~~~

Bokuto weaved in and out of the crowds coming into the bar with a heavy sigh. His boyfriend was drifting in and out of consciousness, and he was exhausted from the matches they played earlier on.

This was not how his night was going to go down.

With a few leering looks from strangers around them (directed at Akaashi) and some not so subtle glares and pushes from Bokuto, they made it out of the hot and stuffy bar, and into the fresh open air.

Bokuto sighs with relief when they make it outside, his shoulders only slightly aching from carrying Akaashi's weight. In Bokuto's mind, it was like carrying a little fluffy cloud, which Akaashi firmly disagrees to and says 'people can't be like clouds, Kou'

At least that's what he would have said until as of recently.

They start to walk down the road, Bokuto pondering his thoughts. Did he do something wrong? Why's Akaashi acting so weird lately? Getting up earlier for work, going back to the honorifics, slipping out of bed just to hide in the kitchen for a few hours only to come back before he 'wakes up', as if he had never disappeared.

Was it the time he accidentally broke his phone? Or missed one of their dates? Didn't he make it up to Keiji though? Didn't they make up?

A small groan from Akaashi beside him pulls him from his thoughts. He sighs heavily and turns to face his boyfriend. "Hey" a small smile starts to grace his face. Akaashi shoves his face in his jacket, mumbling a hello in response. He chuckles, amused by this. His boyfriend was very rarely an affectionate, emotional person so this was one of the rare times he would act like this.

"Koutarou" he mumbles, nuzzling his side. "I missed you"

Bokuto chuckles, slightly confused from what he just said. "I'm always here Keiji"

"Not like that" Akaashi takes his head out from his jacket. Bokuto intakes a sharp breath as he gets a proper view of Akaashi's face for the first time since they left. His eyes were raw and red from crying and his glasses lay sideways on his face. He took one of his hands and uses it to right them on Akaashi's face.

"Hey" he makes his hand tilt Akaashi's head up, brushing stray hairs off his face. "You know I'm always here" he murmurs, touching his forehead off Akaashi's. "I'm not going anywhere," he tells him firmly.

Akaashi's eyes were wide, and he doesn't say anything for a few seconds before nodding. With that as his answer Bokuto smiles softly and kisses him.

"We should go home now" he mumbles. He hoists Akaashi into his arms and carries him, bridal style. "Koutarou!" Akaashi calls as he's being carried into the air. Bokuto laughs and peppers him with kisses again. "Don't worry Keiji! I'll carry you!" he laughs. Before Akaashi can say anything to protest against this Bokuto is already running down the street, laughing his head off.

After some time Bokuto starts to slow down, his breaths becoming unsteady. He had a strong alcohol tolerance, unlike his husband who gets drunk very easily. There was only one time where Bokuto got drunk, and it was an experience Akaashi did not want to repeat, as amusing as it was.

The silence starts to dissipate around them, and they start to ease into easy conversation. Bokuto would yell out his strange, and undisputedly stupid questions to Akaashi, who would respond with equally stupid, drunken answers. Questions like "Akaashi if I flapped my arms hard enough could I fly?" and "Akaashi if you dyed your hair like mine would you keep doing it?" echoed through the street, rebounding off the walls and homes that resided there.

After about fifteen minutes of walking and of Bokuto's shoulders aching they finally made it to their 'small' apartment as Bokuto called it. Akaashi was almost asleep in Bokuto's arms, the exhaustion hitting him at full blast.

"Akaashi-kun, I need to get the keys" Bokuto slowly lowers him to the ground as he says this. "Okayyy" Akaashi giggles, hopping out of his arms. He stumbles around without Bokuto's support for a second before his boyfriend swooped in and caught him. He was towering over Akaashi, who was dipped like they were in the middle of a waltz.

"Damn Keiji, what's up with you?" he sighs heavily. Akaashi blinks twice with the widest, most innocent eyes on earth, and for a second Bokuto felt like he was staring into the eyes of the Akaashi from his highschool years.

As they look into each other's eyes Bokuto takes the keys out of his jacket, expertly sliding the right key into his hands and opening the door. It creaks open, but the two of them don't move.

"Wanna go inside?" Bokuto clears his throat as he says this, feeling slightly awkward. His boyfriend nods shyly and rights himself back on his feet, brushing himself off. He seemed sober enough to stand on his own two feet now, so that's some improvement.

Although they had been connected only seconds before, Bokuto suddenly felt that he was distanced far far away from Akaashi, as if there was a border that had split them up, millions of miles away from each other.

Akaashi stumbles into the house, looking like he was seconds away from passing out. He rights himself up quickly and groans, before throwing his coat off and stumbling further into their house.

"Akaashi?" Bokuto calls, concern thick in his voice as he locks the door. "Where are you going?" he asks. Akaashi mumbles the words that sounded something like "work" and "report" but Bokuto gets the message. "Oh no you don't" he swoops over and throws the keys behind him and then runs forwards to pick Akaashi back up into his arms again.

"Bokuto-sannn" he whines, wriggling to get out of his grasp. Bokuto shakes his head firmly and grips Akaashi even tighter, before walking up the stairs. "I have work" Akaashi grumbles.

"Oh yeah?" Bokuto huffs. He storms up the stairs and kicks open their bedroom door, before slamming it shut. "Bokuto-san!" Akaashi huffs, trying to put himself back on his own two feet.

Bokuto ignores him and slams him against the wall, kissing him deeply. Akaashi can taste the liquor as he kisses him, and squirms underneath him. When Bokuto stops he pants slightly, before saying

"I have work" he whispers. Bokuto rolls his eyes and kisses him, again, and again and again, peppering his face with it. "Bokuto-san!" Akaashi whines.

"No" he deadpans, looking at Akaashi with the most serious of expressions. "You're all mine tonight, and there's no deadlines or computers than can take you away from me" he kisses him again after he finishes.

Before Akaashi can object, Bokuto is already walking towards the bed, and then rolls under the covers, still gripping Akaashi tightly. "Bokuto-sannn!" Akaashi whines, desperate to get back to work. "No" Bokuto's protests are slightly muffled as he sticks his face into Akaashi's shirt.

Akaashi continues to wriggle, still very drunk and determined to get to work until he gives up. Bokuto's iron grip on his had not relinquished, so it was time to give in.

He could feel himself slipping into the land of dreams, exhausted from the night's activities of volleyball and loud conversations at the bar. Before he fell asleep in his boyfriend's arms, without realising it, he let these few words slip from his lips;

"Why do you stay around?" he sighs, and then falls into a deep, hazy sleep, away from the clutches of reality.

He sleeps like this throughout the night, apart from some movement which he thought was probably Bokuto since he was still restless even in sleep, but otherwise, he had a peaceful night. Without either of them realising it, this was Akaashi's first night of deep sleep in a long time. A rare occasion, but hardly noticeable.

The next morning Akaashi wakes up on a couch in an area he doesn't recognise. He has a banging hangover and no memory of last night.

He jolts out of his bed, a hundred memories and questions about last night. But, the one that was most prominent was this;

"Where in the hell am I!?"

║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║

"I just don't know what to do bro!" Bokuto laments as he throws himself onto the expensive couch of the Kuroo household. "I feel you bro" Kuroo jumps onto the couch beside him, crumpling his cheap work suit.

The two of them kept 'broing' each other, as they called it, gaining unimpressed looks and raised eyebrows from Kenma across the room. "You guys are so stupid" he mutters under his breath.

"Kenma! Have some sympathy for Bokubro!" Kuroo scolds. The catlike male rolled his eyes and turned his eyes back to his vintage DS, which he was busy exploring the dungeons for easter eggs that his fans had told him about.

"Kenma!" Kuroo whines. Kenma pauses his game and looks over, his face contorted into the most disgruntled expression ever. "Karma will bite you in the ass if you don't!" Kuroo calls. Kenma rolls his eyes at the thought, knowing that karma was not real and he would not fall for that bull-

A jumpscare suddenly pops up out of nowhere and Kenma screeches, throwing his DS into the air and kicking it across the room.

"Begon demon!" he scrambles to get out of the plush chair and falls out of it with a hard thud on the floor. Kuroo and Bokuto stare in silence for a second, but when Kenma falls on the floor they can't contain it anymore. They burst out laughing on each other, each of them rolling on the couch in uncontrollable laughter.

”Why does gravity exist in this world? Gravity pisses me off! If gravity didn’t exist, I wouldn’t fallen and if-” before he can continue his muttering Kuroo wanders over and puts his finger to Kenma’s lips before crouching down to kiss him. “Kenma, focus” he says softly, putting a warm smile on his face. Bokuto continues to laugh all the same, with Kuroo looking highly amused on the sideline as he moves to stand up, offering his boyfriend a hand.

"I invited Daichi and Iwazumi over" Kuroo calls out as he pasts himself down for the keys as he walks towards the door. "And I invited Suga and Oikawa" Kenma mutters, perking up slightly at the thought. Bokuto's laughter starts to fade as he sits up, getting ready to greet their friends who would come in any second now.

Kuroo opens the door and Daichi and Iwazumi respectfully step in, being their usual calm and collected selves, whereas Oikawa and Suga burst through the door.

"Hey bitches!" Oikawa runs towards Kenma, throwing him over his shoulder.

"Lead us to the horror room!" Suga throws his hands up, acting like they were about to do a ritual.

"Koushi!"

"Tooru!" both of their husbands snap at the same time. "Let's not be rude" both of them sigh. They both stare their husband, and then back at the celebrity they were just about to throw into the air.

"Sorry" the bow their heads slightly, dropping Kenma onto the couch. He bounces off and then bounces onto the floor on the other side of the couch with a small thud.

"You bastards" Kenma mutters, immediately springing back up on top of the couch and pounces onto Oikawa. The professional player shrieks, using his speed to run away from the terror known as Kenma behind him.

"Kenmaichhi lets negotiate!" Oikawa shrieks as he runs towards Kenma's recording room. "We're friends, we can figure something ou!-" he doesn't get to finish his sentence as Kenma does a flying kick, throwing him into his studio.

"Oh, Sugawara" he turns to Suga who gulps in turn. "You ready to start?" he opens the door like the gentlemen he was, but Suga knew this was his way of saying 'if you don't come in here I will drag you myself'.

"Ahhh, Kenma, you're such a gentlemen" he laughs, walking over. Kenya's face was totally deadpan now, unlike his pissed-off expression from before.

"Just get your ass in here"

"Hai!" Suga yelps, and hops into the room, before Kenma slams the door and locks it behind them.

The four guys left in the room were left standing awkwardly, unsure of what to do after that.

"Sooo" Kuroo claps his hands together. "Want some tea?" he offers. Daichi and Iwazumi shrug at the offer. "Yeah, thanks" Daichi smiles gratefully. "Nice, just go make yourselves comfortable while I grab it" he smiles innocently as he slips away.

"Put salt instead of sugar in my team again and ask for death!" Iwazumi calls. "Jeez, so violent!" Kuroo mutters but doesn't protest as he slips into the spotless kitchen.

"So" Daichi throws himself on the couch beside Bokuto. "How's things been going since we last met up?" he asks. Bokuto groans, not really wanting to talk about the subject. So, instead of politely responding with a 'great thanks' he mutters something incoherent before stuffing his face into one of the stray pillows beside him.

Daichi looks at him sceptically, curiosity starting to seep into him. As a Karasuno Alumni and current member of the Police safety division he always had a hunger to find out what was the problem, and in this case, Bokuto's problem.

"Ah, okay" he lets a small smile slip on his face, trying to act convincing before he started to interrogation. "Daichi, wipe the smile off your face, you're not convincing anyone" Iwazumi throws himself in the seat close by the two of them, making himself comfortable in it.

"Wanna talk about it?" Iwazumi offers. As the national team's athletic trainer, you would expect Bokuto to spill everything, but the man stubbornly refused yet again. Iwazumi's smile became tight as he grabbed Bokuto's arm, pulling him away from the cushions.

"As your athletic trainer, I am in charge of making sure my clients and the players are in top health and fitness for a game," he tells Bokuto. Bokuto stares at him as if he doesn't understand, but Iwazumi knows otherwise.

"Something has obviously been getting you down, I've had a hunch since the last time we played together" Iwazumi juts out his chin stubbornly like he would not stand down unless someone proved him otherwise.

Bokuto groans but sits up. He seemed exhausted, his eyes bleary and unfocused. "I'm just having an off day" he mutters. "Don't worry about me" he tugs his arm away from Iwazumi's, looking slightly droopy. Iwazumi and Daichi exchange looks before sighing. Bokuto was sometimes a little too considerate about others feelings, as stupid as he looked, he cared about others very much and started to consider their feelings a lot more as he grew up.

"Ya know, you were really obvious with your emo modes back in highschool" Daichi calls out lazily, putting his arms behind his head. Bokuto glares at him. No one was allowed to talk about his emo modes since he graduated, as he 'grew out' of that phase as he says.

"No I wasn't" Bokuto mumbles.

"Yes, you were" Kuroo snorts, walking in with a tea tray filled to the brim with tea and pie. Iwazumi raises an eyebrow at how much pie was on the tray. "Dude, I appreciate how hospitable you are but I don't think we can eat all that pie-" he points his finger at the tray just to emphasise how overfilled it was.

"Nonsense!" Kuroo laughs, settling down the tray on the table. "Ano-" he mumbles under his breath when he puts down the tray. "When I had to go on a business trip Kenma was in charge of shopping and all he bought was this" he puts his hands in a praying position. "So please eat the food!" he prays. "He says he's gonna eat it all but I don't wanna make him sick and-"

"I have been summoned" Kenma suddenly speaks up from behind Kuroo. "What the hell!" He jumps up like a skittish cat as Kenma dives towards the plate. Speedily but carefully he chucks the teacups filled to the brim with tea onto the table and sprints away with the remaining pie.

"Thanks for the pie Tetsu!" he laughs, sprinting back towards the studio.

"KENMA GET THE HELL BACK HERE!" Kuroo yells, sprinting after his husband. Kenma doesn't heed the man chasing him and runs faster than he ever has done, even faster than he was in his high school volleyball matches.

Kuroo uses his height to his advantage and gets in front of the door before Kenma does, slinging him over his shoulder while balancing the tray in his other hand. "Kuro~" Kenma whines, wriggling around a bit while Kuroo walks the other direction, back towards the table.

"Yo Koushi! Tooru!" Testuro calls. "Wanna take a quick break before you start recording and have some tea?" he calls.

Oikawa and Koushi slip through the door, a camera with its red light on in hand. "Ahh, arigato Testu-kun!" Oikawa laughs, throwing the camera behind him as it clicked loudly, before softly landing onto one of the soft bean bags inside.

"You fucking did not just-" Kenma points his hand menacingly before Kuro softly karate chops his head, cutting him off. "Swear again and I will ditch the pie" he warns with a soft, innocent smile on his face. Kenma grumbles but doesn't complain and Kuroo carries him over to the couch, putting the tray on the table and then his husband down softly on the couch.

"So" Oikawa flops down on an empty couch, Koushi following behind him. "What's the tea?" he grins, hoping something good, something juicy would pique his attention. Bokuto groans, rolling off to the other end of the couch and returning to his cousin.

"Bokuto's emo mode" Iwazumi deadpans as Oikawa laughs. "Ahh, those were pretty funny when I watch over our volleyball matches from highschool" he chuckles. "Urusai" Bokuto mutters, but everyone doesn't take him seriously knowing that he would come out of his slump in a few seconds.

Koushi and Oikawa exchange a knowing glance with each other as their laughter fades, turning to silence. Bokuto did seem pretty down, but was it a good idea to tell him? Shouldn't they wait for Akaashi to talk to him themselves?

"Ano-" Koushi rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "It wouldn't be anything to do about Akaashi, would it?" he seemed to have asked the question without thinking of the consequences. The second he finishes he clamps his hands over his mouth as Oikawa and Kenma stare at him in shock.

"Sorry sorry! I'm a bit nosy, my teacher tendencies are kicking in-" he laughs awkwardly as Bokuto sits up, staring intensely at Koushi.

"Why are you asking?" his tone in voice was very serious, sending shivers down everyone's spines. "Are you sure you're not just being nosy-" he sits up, his golden honey eyes have turned into a solid bronze colour.

" Or do you know something I don't?"

"Okay!" Kuroo cuts in. "Bokuto, I think you need to calm down a-"

"Kuroo, I love you but shut the hell up" Bokuto snaps. Kuroo's jaw goes slack, his temper rising slightly. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do if I don't bird brain?"

"Oi!" Kenma yells, startling the two out of their anger. "Shut the hell up, I'm trying to think!" he growls. The two of them tighten their jaws before sitting back down, looking at each other suspiciously.

"Tch" Bokuto and Kuroo turn away from each other at the same time, acting like children.

"Bokuto" Kenma looks at him, his expression like his usual deadpan one. Bokuto whips his head around to meet Kenma's bored, uninterested expression. "If this is to do with Akaashi, you have to tell us, or we can't explain" he leans forwards and puts his small hand on Bokuto's big one. Flickers of empathy flickered through Kenma's eyes, hoping that Bokuto would tell them.

Bokuto sighs, his anger starting to melt. "Akaashi's been acting weird" he leans on one of his hands, his eyes becoming distant. "Although we're together and live in the same house I feel so distant" he mumbles, raising his other hand to grasp his shirt where a ring once lay.

"I think Akaashi might be feeling the same way" Suga walks over to sit in between Daichi and Bokuto. "He talked something about not deserving you" he sighs. Bokuto's eyes widen and glaze over as he hears this, his heart throbbing.

"When we were at the bar the other night" Oikawa added in nervously. "He started opening up to us" he sighs. "He started off saying how you were the greatest, how he didn't want to drag you down" he then scrunches up his face, as if he was trying to remember something. "And there was something about rings-" he mumbles.

Bokuto groans, lying back. "The damn rings!" he yells, his voice slightly louder than he expected it to be. "I got me and 'Kaashi rings when I graduated, kind of like a promise ring and when i took it off one night it disappeared a little while ago" he sighs, ruffling his hair with his hands.

"Akaashi said it was okay, but seemed really off about it. He was acting weird beforehand but I guess I thought if I gave him some time he would talk to me about it"

Kuroo and Daichi exchanged looks, not really knowing what to say.

"You know" Iwazumi starts. "Have you tried anything to bring his mood up?" he asks.

"I invited him on a date, where we first went for it but he had to keep cancelling because of work" he sighs. Iwazumi shakes his head.

"No, but like really tried?" he asks. Kuroo and the others give him a warning glare to stop, or else there may be bloodshed. Bokuto glares at him. "What the hell have you thought I've been doing for the past two months?"

Iwazumi brushes him off, immediately moving to the next question.

"How much do you love Akaashi, Bokuto?" he asks softly.

"What kind of question is that?" he growls, still pissed at the fact that Iwazumi was being so harsh.

"I said, how much do you love him?" Iwazumi's voice was slightly raised now, getting more and more aggressive by the second.

"A lot!" Bokuto yells.

"How much do you love him!"

"I said, fucking a lot!"

"Oh yeah?" Iwazumi's face contorted into a daring expression. "Just how much?"

"He's my world!" Bokuto yells, standing up and getting into Iwazumi's face. "He's mine, and my only, the one person who I want to love for the rest of my life!" he yells.

Iwazumi raised an eyebrow and stood up, pushing Bokuto off of him.

"Oh yeah?" he grins, daring him to continue. "If you like it so much, why not put a ring on it?" he flashes his left hand, wriggling his fingers to show off the flashy gold band on his ring finger.

"What?"

"I said if you like it so much, why don't you just put a ring on it"

║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║

Bokuto felt sick to his stomach. Terrified even. After only two weeks of planning with his team and of Akaashi and him distancing, the time had finally come. Akaashi had probably noticed he was acting weird, the way he was being so skittish and offering to do more around the house and for him, but said nothing, not wanting to scare off of his boyfriend.

"Bokuto!" Meian slammed open the changing room doors, a small package in hand. "It came!"

The team stop in shock and then cheer, slapping Meian and Bokuto on the back.

"That's our trustworthy captain for you, getting things done in no time!" Atsumu laughs, throwing his arm around Sakusa who shrinks away immediately. "Don't touch me" he mumbles trying to slip away from his clingy boyfriend.

"Awww Yoomi-kun, so cold!" Atsumu whines, trailing after his germaphobe boyfriend.

Meian smiles at Bokuto warmly, passing over the package. Bokuto hesitates before taking it so carefully as if it would shatter to his touch. "Don't lose this" he warns.

"I won't" Bokuto nods solemnly. Meian smiles warmly and starts to walk back towards the door to leave, but he stops him. "Ah, Meian!" Bokuto calls. Meian turns around to the sound of his voice.

"Arigato!" Bokuto does a quick short bow since his captain was not one for formality. He preferred his teammates to treat each other with mutual respect without the honorifics or bowing.

Meian laughs, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry about it" he smiles. "Akaashi is a nice guy. You guys deserve this" he laughs. "Just make sure to do this right" he adds, before disappearing out the door.

Before Bokuto can say anything else Meian had already disappeared. Although the package seemed light, it held a heavy, emotional weight. This was the thing he was riding all of his hopes on, and if he messed this up, it was game over.

He intakes a deep shuddering breath, trying to control his erratic heart rate.

"Bokuto-san" Hinata suddenly popped up behind him, his voice monotone and emotionless.

Bokuto jumps, not expecting to see his kouhai standing there. "Ahh, Hinata-kun its just you" he laughs awkwardly. "I didn't see you there for a second" he trails off, unsure of what to say.

"That's fine" Hinata's expression is unchanging as he continues talking. "But I must warn you" he leans in closer before grabbing Bokuto's collar and dragging him down to his height so no one else would overhear.

"I understand you and Akaashi are in a very difficult position right now, and I haven't told you this but I consider you guys very close family" he breaths. "If Akaashi or you gets hurt, or if you screw up, I will personally end you" he glares at Bokuto to emphasize the last bit before letting go of his collar. The second Bokuto has straightened his back Hinata's usual angel smile is back.

"So please" he smiles innocently. "Make Akaashi happy" he bows slightly, his smile becoming slightly sad, before bounding outside and running towards their captain.

Bokuto watches his disappearing figure disappear around the corner before gulping, clenching the brown package tightly.

This package wasn't just something he was riding all his hopes on.

He was betting his neck on it too.

║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║

"Welcome back Akaashi-kun!" Osamu smiles. "How's things going?" he offers a seat to his favourite customer before turning around towards the pots.

Akaashi offers a weak smile, feeling too tired to offer anything more. "I'm doing alright" he responds, taking a seat by the counter. Osamu hums, taking out the ingredients.

"Will it be the usual?" he asks. Akaashi nods enthusiastically, his mouth watering at the thought of some onigiri. "Sounds great" he smiles. In a flash Osamu whizzes around the small area, prepping the rice and the umeboshi.

"So hows things going at home?" Osamu offers a conversation but doesn't look up from his work. Akaashi sighs. "Hectic as usual" he rolls his eyes. "I've had so much work lately that I haven't had much sleep" he laughs, trying to lighten the topic.

Osamu hums, acknowledging him. "It's nice to hear about your work but how has it been at home? Not relating to work or anything" he adds. Akaashi fiddles with the ring on his finger to try to release the pent up stress in him.

"I'm not sure" he sighs again, searching for any recent memories on how things are at home. "I've been at the office so much that it been hard to find time to do anything"

Osamu turns around and puts down his cooking equipment, looking at Akaashi sceptically. "Are you sure about that?" he asks. Akaashi cocks his head, slightly confused. Osamu sighs, rubbing the salt back onto his hands and returning back to the rice.

"Whenever you seem stressed you seem to throw yourself into your work" his brow scrunched up slightly as he says this. "All I'm saying is-" he sighs. "Make sure to take care of yourself" he offers a small smile. Akaashi's heart warms at this. His visits to Osamu's stall was always looked forward to, not only because of the delicious food but also because of Osamu's compassion towards Akaashi.

"Bokuto must have been running around like mad to try to find out what was wrong" Osamu chuckles. His heart drops as he hears Bokuto's name, and guilt seeps into his body.

"Haha-" he offers a very awkward and fake laugh. "Yeah, he has been acting pretty weird-" he trails off, unsure of what to say. Osamu looks at him strangely before whipping out the onigiri and passing it over to Akaashi. His eyes widen in surprise.

"How did you cook that so fast, I didn't even see you!" Akaashi's mouth drops in awe. Osamu shrugs. "Magic" he grabs a spare onigiri he made on the side and takes a bite out of it, a smug smile on his face.

Akaashi's eyes sparkle as he picks it up and takes a bit. "Mhmm" he moans as he takes a bite. "Is this fresh rice?" he asks. Osamu grins. "Yup. Kita sent in a bag yesterday"

Akaashi hums as he takes another bite of the umeboshi. "The new recipe tastes great" he smiles, really savouring the taste of it. Osamu grins, his ego being stroked a bit as his Onigiri is praised.

"Arigato!" he laughs. "Nothing but the best for my loyal customers" he grins.

The two slip into easy conversation, the awkwardness dissipating around them. Occasionally a customer would come up and buy some onigiri, but otherwise, they were undisturbed.

"Ahhh" Osamu takes off his came and ruffles his hair. "Seems like its a quiet day" he glances over at the rice bag sadly. "Its a pity really, I was hoping to cook with the rice some more" he sighs, leaning over his counter.

"Its all the more for me then" Akaashi chuckles, trying to raise his mood. Osamu smiles lightly, leaning on his counter. The hall around them was moderately full, but not many seemed interested in Osamu's shop currently.

"Maybe I should close up for now and keep the food fresh for a little longer, and open when the match is done," he thinks out loud. "As a bonus, it means my brother won't be annoying me anytime soon after this" he mutters the last bit under his breath, but Akaashi pretends not to hear as the corners of his lips quirk up in amusement.

"So" Osamu sighs. "Has Bokuto been acting weird by any chance?" he asks. Akaashi finishes off his third onigiri, raising his eyebrow at the question. Before he has the chance to answer Osamu cuts him off. "I'm not prying about your home life, its just Atsumu's been acting weirder than normal and I just want to check if Bokuto's got something to do with it" he raises his hands in defence.

Akaashi frowns but appreciates the way Osamu is not trying to pry into every aspect of his life.

"Come to think of it" he murmurs, rubbing his chin as he thinks. For the past while Bokuto had been acting weird. This was one of the reasons, as much as Akaashi did not want to admit it, that he had worked himself to almost passing out as of recently.

Bokuto was jumpy, hid his phone or changed computer tbs when he was around, seemed a lot nicer and cooked and cleaned a lot more. When he wasn't avoiding Akaashi like this, he was either extremely jumpy or had to go out for the night, leaving Akaashi alone with the bright glare of his computer.

This was the first time in weeks that they had arranged to go out together, but something was extremely off about this...

"I guess, now that I think about it" Akaashi sips the cold coffee that he grabbed early, his face scrunched up in distaste as he tasted the bitterness of it. Didn't he ask for sugar?

Osamu hums, looking left and right before leaning forwards. "Do ya think they're up to something?" he whispers, a curious look on his face. Akaashi looks at him in surprise, taking another swig of his coffee. This seemed to only add to his current headache.

"Probably not" he sighs. "Bokuto's terrible at keeping secrets and Atsumu is a terrible liar" he points out. Osamu nods, leaning back. "You're probably right" he sighs, raising his wrist to look at his watch.

"You should probably get going, ya don't want to miss the big event" he winks. Akaashi smiles, but feels slightly uneasy like Osamu knew something he didn't.

"Right, right" he murmurs, sliding off the table and ditching his half-empty coffee in a nearby bin. "It was nice talking to you as usual" Akaashi bows slightly out of politeness before turning on his heels.

"See ya around Keiji-kun!" Osamu calls from his stall with a grin, before busying himself with tidying up his work and closing up for the day.

Akaashi walks away, feeling like the burden on his shoulders had gotten a lot lighter. 'Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all' he thinks to himself, humming in content, before walking off towards the stands.

║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║

Something was very wrong.

So wrong in fact that Akaashi's heart was racing faster than it ever had.

Sure, to anyone else everything seemed normal but Akaashi could feel it. The atmosphere was so different, and he couldn't tell if it was out of fear or nervousness but he was excited. This was one of the places where his boyfriend shone most, after all, he was a star.

He had the whole world on his side.

Ten minutes to go before the show starts.

His body was practically shaking with nerves, he was just itching for it to start already. Every time he saw the MBSY Jackals play he felt that familiar urge to step on the court. They were the team that got everyone in the stadium moving and cheering for them.

"Ah, Kon'ichiwa Akaashi-san" a sudden voice behind Akaashi makes him jump. "Ah! Kageyama, I didn't see you there!" Akaashi smiles, greeting his junior. Kageyama rips the cap off of his head, the large sunglasses and mask still covering his face.

"How did you guess it was me!?" Kageyama gapes. Obviously, he knew what a crappy disguise it was, but the Hollywood disguise was a running gag in their friend group, so he decided to keep it up, as uncomfortable as it was.

Akaashi rolls his eyes, letting out a slight chuckle. "I didn't expect to see you here" he points out. It was unexpected for the famous setter Kageyama Tobio to be seen at matches so far out because of his busy schedule, so it was quite surprising.

Kageyama shrugs, biting down on some Onigiri that he grabbed from Osamu's shop before it closed down.

"Hinata told me something epic was gonna go down, so I had to come to see" he takes another bite of the Onigiri before taking a step forwards. Akaashi's lips quirk up into a small smile at the thought of Hinata. He probably had a special attack that he wanted to show off or something like that.

"I bet he's got something really cool up his sleeves" he chuckles. Kageyama tosses a side glance his way, before nodding. "Probably" he shrugs, leaning forwards along the rails. The uneasiness that had disappeared earlier had returned. Did Kageyama know something too?

Or maybe...

"Oh, it's starting" Kageyama points out, dragging Akaashi out of his thoughts. "Thanks" he sighs, leaning forwards to watch the game.

Unlike the usual stadiums that the players usually played in and the stands were slightly lowered so the experience for the people there was a lot more 'interactive'.

Both of them held their breaths as the music was cut and the announcers loud voice started booming through the stadium. The crowd that had gather started to roar and cheer as the two announcers pumped up the crowd for the game.

Akaashi's trembling hadn't stopped, the consistent feel of adrenaline pumping through his veins keeping him awake and alert. This spike of energy was more than enough to get through the day, even more so than the watery, bitter coffee from earlier.

"Ladies, gentlemen, welcome to the match we've all been waiting for!" the speakers made the sound reverberate throughout the stadium, shaking everyone up. The crowd roars as he finishes, feeling pumped up and excited for their favourite players to be announced.

"Thank you all for coming tonight, I'm sure you're all ready to scream!" the other announcer yells.

The crowd roars a unanimous yes, whether it was in English, Spanish, french or any other language it didn't matter. Everyone was ready to burst in anticipation.

"I can't hear you!" they both yell. The crowd roars even louder now, the sound hurting their ears.

"Then let's do this!" one of the announcers yells as the crowd surges upwards.

"Introducing our home team, the Surai Foxes Captain, Midoriya Shohei!" a group of fangirls and boys in the captain's jersey cheers and rise up as his name is announced across the stadium.

The announcers continue to announce the players one by one as they make their flashy entrances, each either flexing to their fans or blowing kisses from one person to the other. Everyone cheered the players on either way, as they all wanted their teams to do well and play fair.

"And now, our away team, the MBSY Jackals!" the crowd seems to roar in excitement, their cheers even louder than before, Kageyama and Akaashi joining in this time instead of politely clapping.

"Introducing the captain of the MBSY Jackals, Shugo Meian!" the announcer yells, trying to let themselves be heard over the roars of the crowd. The reliable captain in all his glory runs forwards, a big grin on his face. Kageyama and Akaashi cheered loudly as he ran towards his coaches, high-fiving them.

"Second up is the team's reliable libero, Shion Inunaki! Just look at him speeding across the court!" the stadium roars again, cheering and yelling as he speeds across the court, filled with energy.

"Just look at the energy of this guy! Looks like our home team is gonna have trouble with him on the other line!" the announcers laugh. Inunaki smiles as he quickly high fives the coaches before running over to Meian and high fiving him.

"I could get used to no one commenting about my height" Inunaki laughs, eliciting a chuckle from Meian. "Make sure to save some energy for the game though" Meian warns him. "We're up against quite the sly opponent today"

Inunaki nods at this, straightening his back and puffing out his chest. "Hai!"

"Next up we have the teams enthusiastic middle blocker, standing up at 201cm! Let's have a hand for Adriah Tomas!" the middle blocker runs onto the court, running towards his captains while smiling and waving at fans.

"Hey hey! Let's play well today" he laughs while high-fiving his teammates.

"Now let's have a hand for Oliver Barnes, the giant wing spiker standing at 207 centimetres! What a monster!"

The spiker runs onto the court in the same fashion as the previous player. Akaashi's hands were starting to hurt from clapping so hard, but that won't stop him. After all, the star was just about to shine.

"And next up, we have the teams crowd favourite!" Akaashi held his breath as he heard this, getting ready to cheer his heart out for the protagonist of the world.

"Oh but what's this! It seems we have quite the change here! What are the Jackals thinking?"

Akaashi and Kageyama glance at each other in confusion, before returning their eyes onto the court.

"May we introduce, the teams ace, Sakusa Kiyoomi!"

What.

The stadium roared in confused cheering and clapping as the Sakusa takes the stage, shrinking back from the loud noise.

Akaashi's mouth dropped. The blood started to rush to his head as the noise around him started to dip in and out, his vision becoming blurry.

What happened? Why was Sakusa the ace? It wasn't his fault... Right?

Maybe Bokuto was taken off the front team as he wasn't focused in practice from worrying about Akaashi so much? Or maybe instead of going to practice, he was busy doing something-

Was that why he's been acting so secretive lately?

No there's no way, Akaashi shakes his head at the thought.

The announcers loud voice cut Akaashi off, bringing him back out of his head and into reality.

"Next up, we have another chance in positions! This formidable ally and the setter of the freak combo is a master of all arts, may we introduce, wing spiker Atsumu Miya!"

Kageyama scowled at the name but clapped all the same, feeling a hint of jealousy and distaste go through him towards the blonde setter. Akaashi squints at the blonde, feeling utterly confused.

What in actual hells name was going on? First Bokuto was gone, and now Atsumu?

"Next up, we have our recipient of the freak combo! After training for years in Brazil, this short but deadly ninja has taken over the population of Japan's hearts with his story. May we have a hand, for the worlds greatest decoy!"

Akaashi and Kageyama both clapped until their hands hurt when the decoy sprinted onto the court, doing a flashy backflip as his fans went wild. Since the decoy returned from Brazil he had become quite popular among children and female fans, much to Kageyama's pride and distaste.

Once Hinata had high fived his teammates, Akaashi's heart was pounding out of his chest. His head was spinning as he prayed to any high powers that Bokuto was still up on the front line.

Every position had been called except for-

Akaashi jolted out of his seat, at the thought.

There's no way this happened.

"Oh ho ho ho!" the announcers cackled over the speakers. "Its time for the crowd favourite to be announced!"

There's no way in hell.

"It seems like we have quite the name change here too!" the other announcer whooped.

"Let us introduce, the team's setter-"

Akaashi held his breath as the announcers drummed their hands on the table for dramatic effect.

"Akaashi Koutarou!"

As his boyfriend came sprinting onto the court pridefully, his number and Akaashi's name plastered proudly on his back Akaashi's jaw dropped.

Oh.

My.

God.

What the actual f*ck.

_║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║_

Bokuto came jogging onto the court, pridefully bearing Akaashu's name on his back as his heart beat a hundred miles an hour. The confused and excited roars of the crowd assaulted his ears as his eyes searched the crowd for a familiar face.

When he spotted him, he wasn't sure what to feel. Akaashi's jaw was dropped, his glasses askew. Bokuto grinned at him, giving a shy wave as he ran across the court. His boyfriend quickly snapped himself back to reality and offered a big smile, before waving back.

His heart immediately warmed at the sentiment as he turned away, shaking the hand of his coaches and then his captain.

"Why do you look so scared?" Meian laughs as he gets a good look at Bokuto's face. "I'm sure Akaashi is going to love this" he slaps Bokuto on the back as he passes. Bokuto straightens his back and nods. "Arigato" he does a quick formal bow towards his captain, before moving along to high five his other teammates.

"Ya know, I'm not too annoyed about the whole romantic gesture towards Akaashi, it's just that you stole my damn spot-" Atsumu grins before being smacked on the head by Shouyou. "Atsumu-kun, continue that and I will refuse to spike your sets" Hinata's face was deadpan as he says this while Atsumu shivered.

"Ahh, you know I was only kidding Shoyou-kun!" Atsumu laughs, trying to convince Hinata of this while Sakusa snorted. "Sure you were" he laughs, while Atsumu elbows him.

Bokuto glances over at them and chuckles, before high fiving Hinata and taking his spot in line.

"Hey hey, mentor" Hinata grins as he slaps Bokuto on the back. "There's no need to be nervous" he laughs, turning to face his mentor before screeching at the pale, trembling face of his mentor.

"Atsumu-kun, Sakusa-kun I think Bokuto has just died!" he grabs Bokuto and starts shaking him. Atsumu and Sakusa glance over and Atsumu grins arrogantly.

"Ehhh? So the big ol' Bokuto couldn't take the pressure of the setter position" he grins gleefully. "Guess I'll just have to take that back-" Atsumu grins as Sakusa places his hand on his head, looking ready to drag his ass off the court.

Before anything else can go down, the whistle is blown and the players get back into formation as they step onto the court to shake the hands of the opposite team.

Bokuto can feel Akaashi's eyes on him as he strains to keep his composure, his pale complexion the only thing giving him away. The pressure makes him feel like he's about to crumble, the only thing keeping him on his feet was probably sheer will as he faced the other team's setter in the eye.

Their deadpan expression unsettled him. Something about this team reminded him of the Nohebi and Inarazaki from his highschool days. It felt like it was the calm before the storm.

The setter of the other team eyed him with an expression of distaste, taking in Bokuto's seemingly fragile mental state before grinning cockily.

"Akaashi, ehh?" he hums, leaning towards the net. "From what I've studied in the Japanese kanji, the name Akaashi can also mean angel" he inspects Bokuto's uniform as he says this. "You know, angels are pretty creatures but" he sighs leaning back.

"They can be easily crushed"

Bokuto straightens up and glares at the opponent on the other side of the net. "What the hell is that supposed to mean" his tone was threatening, his whole demeanour changing. The setter acts slightly surprised before cockily smirking.

"Ya don't just win by playing by the rules" he swings his fingers back and forth as he says this. "As long as you take the angels wings away" he glances over at Akaashi with a sly grin on his face. "They're nothing but glorified garbage" he points at Akaashi up at the stands who was watching their interaction intently, just itching for the match to start already.

Bokuto glares at him, all signs of nervousness gone. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" he asks through gritted teeth, feeling rage start to simmer inside of him. The opposed shrugs, putting his hands up in defence. "Take it however you want," he tells Bokuto. "But just a heads up" he whispers talks the last but, leaning real close to the net.

"Our team doesn't like to tolerate trash" he smiles innocently before pulling away. The referee blows their whistle to signal for everyone to shake hands, but Bokuto eyes the other player wearily before putting his hand out to shake. As much as he'd rather not shake the other player's hand, it was the sporting thing to do, so he did it all the same.

The setter scoffs at this, not budging. As Bokuto glanced over at his other teammates, it seemed they were getting the same treatment, apart from the captain who was held captive by the death grip of the other team.

The referee blew the whistle one more time, signalling for the players to disband, and return to the benches. Bokuto mutters 'good luck' to the setter on the other side but obviously doesn't mean the sentiment. Each of the Black Jackal members that seemed so lively before were more serious now. Even the cold Sakusa, who usually was unreadable looked disgusted, as if he had just been sneezed on by a stranger.

"Alright guys, let's not get in our heads before the match starts" Meian claps his hands together, trying to bring the mood up. "We've encountered plenty of teams who have used intimidation tactic's before, nows not the time to get scared" he claps his hands together. The team says nothing, trying to gather their thoughts together before answering.

Meian sighs before continuing. "The Surai Foxes live up to their name and are known for their intimidation tactics and quiet plays to apply pressure to the team" Meian states. The team raises their heads up, gathering the information up.

"They will probably expect a set from Atsumu and will leave blockers more so on the right than the left because of the combo quick" Meian continues as his team nods, soaking in it all.

"And that's when we use our secret weapon" he grins, the other players of the team staring at Bokuto. The white-haired male freezes, and then nods, preparing himself mentally for what was about to come.

"Hai!" he straightens his back, grinning like a madman. "The Surai Foxes won't know what hit them" he scoffs cockily, before stepping onto the court.

"Let's do this!" Bokuto yells, a sudden spike of adrenaline running through him at the thought of crushing the team with some awesome spikes and sets.

The Jackals grin before stepping onto the court. "Setsuzoku shimashou!" they all yell, and step onto the court. The crowd roars in excitement at the sight of the Jackals, everyone's heart rates spiking as the other team steps onto the court.

"And so the Foxes versus the Jackals match starts! The stakes are high, and the match is even! In the end its everyone's game, but the question that is on everyone's minds is unanswerable: Who will win, and who will lose! Let's see how this goes down!" the announcer roars as the crowds flap their banners and signs of support and love.

Bokuto searches the crowd desperately, looking for the pair of gunmetal blue eyes that brought him solace even in his darkest moments.

A loud but faint voice being drowned out in the crowd makes him whip his head around like lightning.

"Koutarou-kun!" Akaashi yells again, even louder than before. Honey gold eyes meet his ocean blue ones as he leans over the rails to yell his cheer.

"Ganburu!" he yells, his voice jolting Bokuto out of all his nervousness as he listens to Akaashi. He stares at his boyfriend, completely dumbstruck before grinning and blowing a kiss at AKaashi's blushing face and stepping onto the court.

"Well, it seems like you're back to normal" Sakusa comments snarkily as Bokuto bounds beside him, practically brimming to the edge with excitement.

"Yeah well," Bokuto grins, waving at Akaashi gleefully. "I realised that there's no need to worry" he chuckles, his expression softening.

"After all, I have a guardian angel by my side" he grins, giving Sakusa a thumbs up. Sakusa gags at the amount of 'love energy' that Bokuto was producing. If this was an anime, a pink aura with cherry blossom flowers would be circling around their heads as they spoke.

The referee blew the whistle, jolting the two out of the conversation.

"Looks like you're up to serve" Sakusa sighs. "Make sure to leave the service ace to me" he huffs before facing straight ahead towards the other team. "Omi-kun, it wouldn't kill you to be at least a bit supportive!" Atsumu yells but doesn't turn around as he puts his hands on the back of his head.

Sakusa rolls his eyes but says nothing as the referee blows their whistle once more, throwing the ball to Bokuto. He gulps as he catches it with ease, feeling the opposing team's setters eyes on him.

As the crowd started to boo and yell Bokuto could feel his resolve getting stronger and stronger.

You have to win this.

The ref blows the whistle once more as he inhales deeply and exhales slowly.

Nows not the time to panic.

He throws up the ball and jumps into the air, slamming it down with brute force. The libero of the team immediately dives for it, their movements speedy and graceful. Bokuto curses as he sends it straight to their setter, who quickly sends the ball towards the captain who sends it flying past the blockers, straight to Bokuto.

If you can't win for your sake, win for Akaashi.

Hinata suddenly appears in front of Bokuto, receiving the ball solidly.

He is your star.

"Bokuto-san!" Hinata yells as his former upperclassmen sprints forwards into the setter position. The ball flys high into the air to slow it path, as during practice Bokuto couldn't seem to get the hand of quick receives.

Its time to show him the world.

As the ball starts to fall Bokuto gulps nervously, putting his hands up. The opposite team's setter grins maniacally, following his every movement.

"Pressure getting to you ehh?" he grins. "I bet that I can predict your movements" he whispers. "Its gonna be right eh? Right! Right!" he chants, making Bokuto glance at the right side. That would be a smart choice; Sakusa was on that side and was a reliable spiker who was able to read sets. There was something so off and unsettling about the idea though that made Bokuto repulsed of the idea.

"Or maybe" the setter chuckles darkly. "Left" he whispers the last bit as Bokuto glances at the left, sprinting to the blockers on that side.

Bokuto panics in the moment of desperation, he jumps into the air. Is this what Akaashi had to put up with in high school? How the hell did he put up with Bokuto for so long?

He glanced over at Akaashi in the crowd, looking deep into those eyes as time seemed to slow around him.

What would Akaashi do?

The sudden thought jolts him back to reality as the idea comes to him. Akaashi was one of the sliest and cunning people he had ever met, having had so many tricks up his sleeve.

Akaashi would choose...

"Bokuto-kun!" Atsumu yells as he sprints forwards, speedily jumping straight to the air just like they practised.

He would choose...

So without thinking, Bokuto's body moves on his own as he quickly turns his body slightly towards the net and slams the ball straight down.

The attack that would suit the team best!

The setter stops in their tracks, looking at Bokuto in shock.

The crowd roars in excitement, not expecting such a sly move to come from a usually loud and boisterous player.

"A power tip! What a move, and right in front of the blockers faces" the announcer roars, encouraging the crowd even further.

The team runs forwards, yelling and cheering at Bokuto.

"Where the hell did ya learn that!" Atsumu screeched. Bokuto looks at him dumbly, unsure of what to say. "Akaashi-kun" he grins sheepishly.

"Aha, I knew it!" Atsumu yells. "He's trying to steal my damn position! That's straight evidence right there!"

Sakusa glares at him before speaking. "Awww, Atsumu, would it kill you to be just a little bit supportive for once?" he pouts as he says this, quoting him from earlier. Atsumu glares at him before muttering a 'shaddap' and storming back to his position. Sakusa snickers before slapping Bokuto on the back.

"Nice work" he comments. "But don't do it again" he warns him. "You were probably just lucky that one time, trying it again could be risky" he offers. Bokuto squints at him, feeling slightly annoyed but nods anyways and thanks him as he moves back into the serving position.

Sakusa was not one to give advice, usually, he just commented on moves with a snarky remark or ever so rarely, a compliment. He was a player who usually kept personal observations to himself, so to get this out of him was rare. It was the smartest option and after all-

Its what Keiji would have done.

The rest of the game is a long and tedious path, all sets ending in deuces. The first set quickly went to the opposing team due to Bokuto flubbing his sets and the intensity of the blocking getting worse with each play they made. Although the pressure was a lot worse this round, the second set was narrowly won by them because of Bokuto's unpredictable movements that threw the other team off.

The next two sets ended in a similar fashion, each other them ending in deuces. The pressure was on now, and the players couldn't help but feel like their movements were becoming more and more restricted by the second.

All the players were weary and exhausted, looking on the brink of passing out. Either way, their powerful offences and defences were still running strong, but for how much longer could they keep this up?

"Nice kill!" Bokuto called, panting slightly.

After many hours of playing, the match was finally coming to a close. They were on the fifth and final set, the Jackals at set point.

"Tch" the setter on the other side of the net glared at Bokuto before storming towards the next position. Bokuto ignored him, he had learnt that if he just kept frustrating the other player, the less precise their plays became.

Atsumu landed on his own two feet and looked at Bokuto with a disgusted look on his face. Bokuto sighs, rubbing the back of his head. "What is it" he sighs. Atsumu's face lights up slightly as he begins to talk. "Well you know how I don't like to complain but-"

Bokuto rolls his eyes as he said this. Atsumu had been complaining to Bokuto about every single set (apart from the odd one or two) throughout the whole game just to spite him. He also feels as if this is Atsumu's way of getting payback for having to deal with the energetic spiker for the past few years.

"The set was too far from the net" he hesitantly continues. Bokuto's smile becomes strained as he nods. The last time Bokuto set it was too close to the net, and the time before that it felt too fast, too slow or too good for Atsumu's liking. Either way, Akaashi would have stayed calm and just went with it for the longest time possible, and if it was what Akaashi would have done, Bokuto must do it too.

"I'll fix it" he sighs, turning back towards the net. Atsumu glances at him, slightly surprised. "No reaction?" he asks, slightly disappointed. Bokuto nods, taking in the state of the opposite team players. Atsumu sighs, putting his hand on the back of his head.

"Looks like you finally understand the pressure of the setters position," he says, eyeing the other team with distaste. "It's a position where all eyes are on you, and where every mistake counts" he continues.

"You've done decent this time around" he seemed quite miffed as he said this. "Now let's get this damn romantic gesture over and done with" Bokuto snorts at this. "Yeah" he chuckles.

"You owe me some damn onigiri too!" he yells as he storms off towards the next position. "Let's win this!" he pumps his fists into the air, getting ready for the next ball to come over as the rest of his team joined him in his battle cry.

The captain of the opposing team, Midoriya Shohei was up to serve. His deadpan expression had barely changed since the start of the match. Even now, when both teams were at the climax of the match he seemed unfazed by the pressure that was being pushed on him now.

"Damn" the captain mutters, his face covered by the long, dark locks hair covering his eyes. "You should all just be discarded trash by now" his piercingly gold eyes pierce through the opposite team's players, making them shiver.

"Guess you haven't learnt your lesson yet" he sighs. "Don't worry" he laughs as the referee blows the whistle.

"You'll learn it soon enough"

The man throws the ball into the air and runs forwards quickly before slamming it down with such force that the smack of the ball against his hands echoed through the court. It flew towards the other side of the court, slamming into their libero's face, knocking him backwards.

Hinata races after the ball, preparing his hands for an emergency set. Kageyama leaned forwards to watch this intently, joining Akaashi at the rails.

"Bokuto-san!" Hinata yells sending the ball straight to Bokuto who slams it past the blockers. The captain quickly receives it, sending it gracefully to the setter. Bokuto curses as he runs to the back, expecting them to do a long spike.

The setter sends it to the back row spiker, who like Bokuto predicted sent straight into his arms. They continued to play like this, each predicting the others next move as they became more and more tired, and more and more fatigued. They wouldn't be able to keep going in this fashion for much longer.

A sudden back-row spike flies forwards, its power a lot more intense than before. If they didn't wrap this up soon, they would lose the set.

Atsumu dives forwards for it, sending it flying back into the air.

"BOKUTOOO!" he yells. "On it!" Bokuto yells. It was flying off the court, to a place where no normal person could reach. But he was no normal person. He was Bokuto Koutarou, the strongest ace in Japan. Akaashi did it once in a match, so he could too.

He had too.

For his own sake, and for his team's sake.

For Akaashi's sake.

Bokuto sprints forwards, going faster than he ever had in the match. The ball was started to lose its power as it drifted towards the ground. The crowds were screaming now, praying that the ace of Japan would give them one more miracle.

Bokuto dives over the advertising blocks and stares at the set in midair.

This was it.

He put his hands up as the ball fell into his hands as if this was all planned. He glanced over at Hinata and then back at the ball before setting it into the air. He lands on the ground with a flashy roll to 'absorb impact' and jumps back over the blocks as he runs to the court.

Time seemed to have slowed down as the ball flew into the air. Hinata sprinted forwards and jumped over the backcourt line, curling back like a spring before unleashing his full power all in one go.

The blockers loom over him, each with menacing grins on their faces. Everyone in the stadium held their breath as Hinata recoils-

And spikes.

His hand pushes forwards the ball with such momentum that it sends the middle blocker flying, changing its trajectory to their libero. The libero receives it, the power of the ball sending him falling back as the ball goes flying behind him.

The whole of the Surai Foxes team stares at it in shock as their captain and ace sprint towards the ball. The captain dives forwards first as the ace falls back, reaching with all his might just to get into the ball into the air.

The tension in the stands was so thick that you would be able to cut it with a butter knife. Everyone held their breaths as the libero dived-

And the ball hit the court floor.

The Jackals team stare at it in disbelief, finding it hard to take in what just happened. The crowd's reaction was actually faster than the teams as they all jump out of their seats, yelling a roar and a cheer that would be able to be heard all over.

The Jackals jolt themselves out of their thoughts and exhaustion and start running to Bokuto before jumping on him. Hinata is the first one to show his gratitude by literally leaping on his back and doing a handstand, before being joined by his whole team.

The afterglow effects of adrenaline were still running his veins, spiking his heart and temperature as his teammates step away from him. He steps towards the stands, his heart pumping a hundred miles an hour as he takes one step, two-step, then three steps closer to the stand.

"KEIJII!" Bokuto roars, using the loudest voice possible to be heard over the crowd.

"DID YOU SEE THAT!" he yells. "IN MY EYES, YOU WILL ALWAYS NOT ONLY BE THE PRETTIEST SETTER, BUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PERSON IN MY EYES" he starts to get a bit breathless from saying this.

"KEIJI, YOU AREN'T ONLY THE GREATEST SETTER, YOU ARE MY STAR!" Bokuto can see Akaashi's eyes starting to well up from him saying this.

"AND IF I'M YOUR STAR TOO" Bokuto continues. "THEN LET'S STAY AND BE THE PROTAGONISTS OF THE WORLD"

║▌│█║▌│ █║▌│█│║▌║

Keiji doesn't remember much of what else happened after that. He remembered a lot of emotions, such as fear, joy, happiness and so many others coursing through him after his speech, and then running off to try to find Bokuto.

The next thing he knows, he's on the court, breathless but still standing as his eyes lock onto Bokuto's golden ones. He calls out Bokuto's name but knows his voice is only drowned out by the crowd.

He sprints forwards anyways, calling out his name over and over until he dives forwards into his arms, Bokuto catching him. Akaashi's smaller, fragile self is engulfed by Bokuto's strong, reliable body as they embrace tightly.

"I thought you were gonna run away" Bokuto chuckles, hugging Akaashi tighter as he says this. "Don't be stupid" Akaashi muttered, stuffing his face into Bokuto's chest. Bokuto raises an eyebrow and laughs at this. "You thought the same thing too, don't be like that" Bokuto smiles tiredly, the exhaustion starting to set in.

Akaashi glances at him worriedly, and tries to take a step back but fails as he's swooped back into the embrace, his boyfriend holding him tight.

"B-Bokuto-san, you really need some water-" Akaashi stutters as Bokuto golden eyes pierce his body, feeling scrutinized under his gaze. "Bokuto s-"

Before Akaashi can say anything else, Bokuto cuts him off by pressing his finger to AKaashi's lips. Akaashi looks at him, slightly perplexed and confused but said nothing. "Akaashi-kun" Bokuto starts as he trails his hands down, taking Akaashi's hands in his before bowing down on one knee.

"Bokut-" Akaashi shakes his head at this, knowing now was not the time to let his insecurities slip in. "Koutarou-" tears pricked his eyes as he watched Bokuto smile nervously.

"Keiji, you are the most wonderful, beautiful star this universe has ever seen" Bokuto bows his head so the top of Akaashi's hand was touching his forehead. "And me, my dumbass self forgot the damn expensive ring in my jacket pocket" Akaashi chuckles at this, not moving his eyes from Bokuto.

"What I'm trying to say is-" Bokuto hesitantly continues. He breaths in and out deeply, trying to clam his erratic heart rate.

"Akaashi Keiji, will you marry me and stay the protagonist of my world?"

Akaashi's jaws dropped at this, completely dumbstruck. The audience and the team held their breath as he said this as the tension rose while the couple stayed silent.

"Yes! Yes!" he cries, crashing into Bokuto's embrace. "A hundred times yes!"

The audience and the team roared and cheered at this, celebrating the two's bonding.

Hinata shouted out to Bokuto and passed him the box, where Bokuto snapped it open, revealing a small silver band with stars engraved on it. Akaashi gasps at this and puts out his left hand shakily, where Bokuto slips on the ring nervously.

The crowd roars once again as the ring was slipped onto his fingers and the two of them sealed their engagement with a deep kiss.

And that my friends, is the story of how Bokuto Koutarou, and Akaashi Keiji, sealed their fate as _the protagonists of the world._

**Author's Note:**

> Extra:
> 
> "Keiji-kun!"
> 
> "What is it Koutarou"
> 
> "I just realised that if we get married you're gonna take my name and then it won't be AKaashi who's the best setter it's gonna be Bokuto and I don't want to make things confusing-"
> 
> "Koutarou?"
> 
> "Yes Keiji?"
> 
> "Just shut up and kiss me"
> 
> ~~~~~~~
> 
> Thanks for reading until the end! This was one of my favourites to write, it took a while.
> 
> Consider dropping by my [https://twitter.com/twig1et](twitter) if you enjoyed, where I like to post and update you on short stories weekly! Thanks for all the support, your kudos are much appreciated!


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